AuthorTopic: Feature 01 - Kraken Vs. Vikings (Read 51104 times)

As I'm sure you can tell, this is very much a work in progress, especially the right side of the image. Feel free to lend any suggestions. The waves against the boat will not be staying, so no worries there. Mast/Sail? Oars?----------------------------------------------Current version:

The boat it's self in the middle looks flat. You say a WIP so this may be irrelivant. By adding some knots and what not to the wood would add more detail. Also the i'm not digging the dithering on the front of the boat. Apart from that i love this. The Otopus monster is really good! Can't wait to see a finished version!

I love it entirely. The looks of oblivious bravery on the Viking's faces are priceless, and the kraken himself is appropriately cute. I would consider leaving the waves in, as I feel they suite the piece stylistically. Something, I think, should be added to the horizon. Some clouds, maybe? I dunno...

Also, the whole hull of the boat... I think it needs to be more smoothly shaded. I didn't do a colour count, but you could (from the looks of it) add a few without to much fear of over-palette-ing... The highlight on the front and dents/scrathes/etc. honestly aren't really doing it for me, and I think it's cause there's too much contrast between the wood's midtone and its highlight.

Since I'm not longer even using real words I'll cut it off here. Sexy, sexy work. Keep it up.

Just noticed something: Why does everyone always make three vikings? Usually with one red being the leader.

We have it here, Kenneth has 'em, and I've seen it elsewhere several times before. Remains of Lost Vikings? They certainly added to make a viking stereotype, though the red guy is most likely the result of the only really international viking I guess. Erik the Red. Never mind, just thinking out loud.

Looks good so far, a few things to mention:

Like it's been said, the oars on viking boats came out though the hull itself, not on top. This only works on small boats because their edge is so close to the water. If you were to try and move a boat forward with an oar placed several meters above the water, it would hardly move at all and you would use most your energy just moving the oar itself rather than watermass. Of course, your boat isn't very large, the edges are still too tall for it to use oars this way and in any case the shields would get in the way Making the oar come through the side would make perfect sense since you've allready got your rower in the perfect position for it. (Though usually, slaves did the rowing on larger ships, we can say it's not big enough for that.)

Next, the waves on the sides really don't work that well the way they are now. Judging from the way you've made the water around the octopus, I would think that a single, wavy line would work better, but I can't say for sure unless I see it for myself.

Lastly, the outline needs some smoothing. I'm a bit puzzled about how the Kraken only has outlines at it's edges while the vikings and some of the boat has it everywhere.

Don't know if anyone has pointed it out but if the viking rows while he sits like he does now, the boat will go backwards. I really like the pixeling, and especially the vikings faces, love to see it finished.

you can row forwards, at least in a dingy. It think the boat does look like its going backwards - maybe because of the waves. If the monster had a tentacle wrapped around the boat then it would look likethe boat was being dragged back. IMO it looks better without oars. Wack a sail in.

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Modern artists are told that they must create something totally original-or risk being called "derivative".They've been indoctrinated with the concept that bad=good.The effect is always the same: Meaningless primitivismhttp://www.artrenewal.org/articles/Philosophy/phi

its backwards because hes got oars, not a paddle. oars propell a boat by using the pulling motion of the arms to move the ends from in front of the oarsman to behind, so hes pushing it backwards. in a small boat you can move in the same direction you are facing by using a pushing motion, but this is much more difficult especially on a longer boat, which is why the oars are typically faced towards the aft so as to make forward motion easier and therefor capable of being quicker

just thought id put my 2 cents in

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A mistake is a mistake.The same mistake twice is a bad habit.The same mistake three or more times is a motif.

Another update:Changed the waves along the side of the boat, added more wavy stuff on the water, made another hole for an oar that is floating on the water (which I think looks like crap at the moment, maybe if I mess around with it and add some more floatsam it'll be alright), added more clouds, worked on the tentacles a bit more, added highlight to water, adjusted the left side of kraken's outline.

The boat isn't drawn in the correct perspective (anymore), and the colors are quite boring. I think your pixeling skills are very good nonetheless, just need to work on the overall feel of the scene.

well, the boat could simple be rocking towards the side, so it isnt necessarily out of perspective

onto the image, I like it, nice octopus, but the water, I liked it better when there were less details in it, when there were just the white lines around the break at the front of the boat, I thought thats how you were going to leave it, because I really liked it >_>

I suggest making the waves on the horizon and right below it way smaller, for perspective issues. Currently it looks more like there's a hard edge where you can fall off (did the vikings believe in a flat earth? I really like the MSPaint colours ^^

removed the sunsetstarted making the water choppier and adding details there.added lighting effects on clouds due to lightning.added a 13th color (changed the darkest blue into two shades, one lighter, one darker).

At that perspective, a bit of the other side of the boat should be visible. I didn't notice it before but this is becoming such a mix between detail and simplicity that you have to make sure everything fits together.

I like that you keep going back to your work and tweaking/adding to get as much out of a piece as you can. I respect it and your dedication shows in your art.

I don't have any crits, but there's a playful quality to this that I really like. This looks like more a of a general piece than a mockup, but it shares many of the qualities of a good mockup.

you also did a long zombie mockup/strip a while back, right? I see a lot of improvement with your use of black and outlines here over the older piece. A lot of improvement too with your composition, shading and other elements.

The sea is choppy, and yet the water around the squid is strangly calm and flat. I'd add a wave or two around him. Also, a darker color in the clouds would give them more depth and broodiness. Is that a word?

Congrats, you have been bannerized. New deal in pixelation. Threads that show a lot of progress and great crits will be showcased, and when they're done, locked and put in a backup read-only forum, forever immortalized. Top left is name of artist and piece, bottom right is prominent editors or critics, et al[/] everybody wins in a showcased thread! Congratulations all-around.

Honored indeed, and inspired to work even harder. It is true, I've been given much helpful critique, it would be quite a different piece without everyone's help.

@Xion: Working on making the other side of the boat visible, the piece did infact have a very cartoony feel before I began the stormy sea, which complicated things a bit.@crab2: Thanks, I'm one of those perfectionists who'd like every single pixel in the exact place I'd like it.@Godslayer: I noticed that as well, I'll have to work on it. I think the biggest problem is getting over covering the work I've done with waves, which is something I should get over. Adding colors is another problem of mine, I tend to be extremely reluctant to add new ones.

minor update:*the other side of the boat is now barely visible*messed with the clouds a little bit, I've still got to make them a lot more realistic I suppose.*F'd around with the sail some more, if anyone finds the sails perspective off, do tell.*added a wave splashing against the kraken; worked on the waves a tiny bit.*tried to incorporate your suggestion, Matriax, not sure if I accomplished it though.

The water dripping off the upraised tentacles makes it fade into the background weirdly. What if you just added some more really strong speculars here and there? Some mist on the horizon line might also help it seem more stormy.

The foreground is HOT. Everything above the horizon though just doesn't do it for me. I hope you'll redo the sky. The clouds are too cartoony and the dither is quite ugly. Perhaps add a moon among clouds?

The best thing I like about this is the style. Its cartoony-ness is great. Your scale isn't right, but that makes it all the better. The expression on the vikings face is my favorite, heh. The darkness in the water you added is great. My only crit would be is that the edge of the kraken that you added the dark blue to could use some sel-out or somethin to fix it cuz it looks a little messy.

The best thing I like about this is the style. Its cartoony-ness is great. Your scale isn't right, but that makes it all the better. The expression on the vikings face is my favorite, heh. The darkness in the water you added is great. My only crit would be is that the edge of the kraken that you added the dark blue to could use some sel-out or somethin to fix it cuz it looks a little messy.

Oh btw, I love the waves

Holy shit, it's Genius329!

Sorry, I was wondering where he had gotten to the other day, and now I know.

/offtopic

Helm, I gotta ask, why is it you come into so many topics and edit the shit out of everyone's work? Like, it looks really good when you do it, but it always seems to move the work way farther away from the original style of the piece, which you probably don't do on purpose, but yeah. Just wondering. It's the one thing that kinda bothers me about your posts. It's fine some of the time, but when it seems like more than half your crits are over the top edits, makes me wish you just spent more of that time making your own pieces, so I can be blown away.

How wonderfully passive agressive. Here's a list of probable reasons I edit as much as I do :

Because I don't think anyone else but the original artist knows what 'style' the piece deserves, and therefore he can take or leave an edit like an adult. Because you sometimes can only tell if something is getting better when you can visually juxtapose between one iteration of something and another.Because a lot of critique cannot be conveyed with text only. Because I get a lot better at my own art by editing others, working around in different environments purely on the technical level, learning things I can then apply to my own stuff. Because I am fast and I like to keep fast, and that happens when you sharpen your skill constantly. Because I happen to believe the lack of 'OMG YOU EDITED ME! WTF!!!111' attitude in Pixelation is one of the primary reasons this place works and is so helpful in contrast to most other art fora. Because I went to art school and got over getting edited (real life paper snatching and scribbling on top of that 'awesome piece' I was working on, mind you) real fast, and benefitted very much from it.

As to my own work, I am one of the most consistent pixelly people around, I do lots of work, usually I finish it, I don't copy myself and I am not stuck in a 'style' (that is, one that is not emergent due to the fact that it's all art made by myself). I also have a jobs to do, a life to live and am not around solely to 'blow you away'. I don't post all my shit. You can find more of my art if you look or ask, especially when you don't voice that request like an accusation.

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It's the one thing that kinda bothers me about your posts.

I wholeheartedly hope you get over being annoyed at my trying to help people. Good luck.

Anyways, I didn't intend any of this to come out as an accusation. Secondly, I did not say you were around to "solely" blow me away, consider that statement more like the second part of your post concerning me requesting to see more of your art. Obviously we're all busy with other things in our life and should not be concerned with some virtual social gathering message board. What I assumed would be taken as a compliment has now been taken as an accusation, which is fine, I too will be adult about this and not take some sort of stand, as I have nothing to stand up for here. I'm glad you responded how you did, and allowed me to re-read my own post and make this one to try and ameliorate my statements thusly.

Anyways, I never intended to hoarde this thread with my own musings about Helm So I would appreciate it very much Helm if maybe this discussion could be continued in the form of PM's or if you could at least direct me towards some of your more recent art.

To make this less of a takeover, I will try my best to make some more in-depth critiquing of your work:

The dithering used in the sky is kind of obvious, which contradicts with how well you've used it in other places, such as the boat.

The lightning looks really awesome, but the clouds right now look really flat. Maybe you could consider making them look less 2-D, since they're the only thing that are THAT 2-D looking. Perhaps give them a slightly less solid look, so the sky/moonlight can seep through, kind of like how real clouds do sometimes when they're thinner. Either that, or since the water is REALLY rough, consider adding way more clouds and make it look like the storm is all around the scene, right now it kinda looks like it's off in the distance. The stormy weather you're portraying doesn't look like it could generate the kind of waves we're seeing.

Anyways, I think that's about it from me for now, this piece has come a long ass way.

I personally love edits. They are a visual model of what one would otherwise try to describe using words. I followed helm's example, but didn't take it to the same extreme. I also dithered the highlight on the clouds, I'd like to know opinions on whether or not it helps or hurts the piece. The other side of the boat is now slightly more visible as well. If anyone has other ideas on how to dither the sky, I'm up for suggestions.

wow ! This forum has the best pixel-artists on the whole damn planet! Oh my God !Great work with this, Cure! The water is awesome, the sky amazing, and the lightning is also really well done. My only suggestion is to do something with the Kraken... if you look closely it looks a bit... blank.Apart from that, great !

Modern artists are told that they must create something totally original-or risk being called "derivative".They've been indoctrinated with the concept that bad=good.The effect is always the same: Meaningless primitivismhttp://www.artrenewal.org/articles/Philosophy/phi

Probably a waste of a comment at this point, but I agree with Helm and Ensel (and was actually going to voice this same thought earlier, but I'm lazy ). You can keep working this, but you are at the point where it's borderline overdone/too busy/whatever and adding even ONE MORE PIXEL puts you at risk of blowing the whole thing. Not that it is overdone; not by any means. In fact, it's quite spectaculicious at the moment